A few days after disguising herself, Sefina, under the guise of “Holmes,” planned to infiltrate the Church to continue her investigation.
She tied up her conspicuous silver hair, hid it under a hood, and changed into a simple gray robe resembling those of ordinary clergy. Then, with the help of the Sheng Nü, she disguised herself as a regular member of the clergy.
Thus, Sefina quietly blended into the crowd of the Royal Capital Cathedral. At that time, the interior management of the Church Court, though orderly, was far less fortified than it would later become, so infiltration was not particularly difficult.
Thanks to her prior reconnaissance of the building’s layout and her appropriately low-key demeanor, Sefina merged in like a drop of water into a river, attracting little attention.
After two or three consecutive days of covert surveillance, Sefina had little to show. She observed the daily routines of the clergy, patrolled seemingly hidden corners, and noted anomalies in resource consumption and personnel movement.
But everything seemed shrouded in a tranquility that was too “normal.” In a brief exchange with the Sheng Nü, the latter stated that she had not found any abnormalities either, as if the horror of that night had been just a nightmare.
However, Sefina was not without discoveries.
After repeatedly comparing the missing persons data provided by the Security Bureau, a previously overlooked commonality gradually became clear—
All the missing persons, regardless of age or occupation, had been devout followers of the Church of the Holy Light, and all had participated in collective worship or small religious activities of the Church shortly before their disappearance.
On the western continent, though belief was widespread, over a dozen consecutive disappearances all pointing to the same faith group could not be explained by coincidence.
The Church itself, or something lurking in its shadows, must have some as-yet-undefined connection to these disappearances.
Just as Sefina was about to shift her investigation strategy to focus on the intersection of believers’ movements and Church insiders, an unexpected storm descended on a sleepless night.
It was around four or five in the morning, the darkest hour of the night, when even the usual insect sounds had nearly ceased.
Sefina had just completed another round of seemingly fruitless patrolling and was about to withdraw from the shadows of the side corridor to return to her temporary hideout and organize her thoughts.
However, just as she turned to leave, an extremely faint sound drifted into her ears.
It sounded like something slippery rubbing against stone slabs, mixed with indescribable small, muffled noises.
Creak… creak…
It seemed to come from the direction of the internal lavatory on the east side of the second floor, which was usually only open for use by clergy during the day.
Sefina’s heart skipped a beat.
She immediately suppressed all her presence, mobilized dark magic to minimize her own existence and footsteps, and moved like a shadow up the stairs, gliding toward the source of the sound.
The heavy wooden door of the lavatory was slightly ajar, letting out the pale light of the magic lamp inside, along with a…
A thick, nauseatingly sweet smell of rust and blood.
Sefina held her breath and pressed her eye to the crack in the door.
The sight that met her eyes made even Sefina, who was mentally prepared, feel a chill shoot up her spine and her stomach churn violently—
A figure in a pure white clerical robe was sitting on his knees on the floor, his back to the door.
And in front of him lay the already mutilated body of a woman.
Blood had soaked the surrounding floor tiles, reflecting a dark, viscous sheen under the light.
The limbs of the corpse had been torn apart by brute force, scattered around.
And the figure in white was lowering his head, holding a severed arm in his hand and bringing it to his mouth, accompanied by the clear sound of gnawing…
“What in the world is this?!”
Sefina’s mind raced through the magical beast catalog in her memory, but she could find nothing that fully matched the scene before her.
‘The Sheng Nü had been telling the truth…’
However, just as Sefina was thinking, the back of the figure that was “eating” suddenly froze.
It had sensed the mana aura around Sefina!
The next second, that head suddenly turned toward the door crack in an extremely unnatural manner!
The hood fell away, revealing a hideous and terrifying face—
Dark cyan skin stretched over protruding bones, with sharply defined cheekbones and jaw, sunken eye sockets, and shreds of flesh hanging between blood-stained sharp teeth.
Roar—!
A low growl forced its way out of its throat.
It dropped the severed limb, got down on all fours, and charged toward the wooden door like a deformed beast!
Wood chips flew; the heavy door panel shattered like paper under that monstrous impact.
Prepared, Sefina had already retreated several steps the moment it burst through the door, her right hand reaching into her robe to grip the handle of the Ice Wand.
Mana gathered and released!
Fifth-rank magic—[Ice Freeze]!
The tip of the wand flashed blue, and surging ice-type mana burst forth, instantly enveloping the monster that was mid-leap.
Biting cold currents swept through, condensing countless ice crystals in the air.
The monster’s forward charge abruptly froze, and a thick layer of ice quickly covered its surface, making it look like a hideous ice statue.
Thud!
It crashed heavily to the ground.
The monster still maintained its pouncing posture, but its entire body was sealed in solid ice, with only the two faint green ghostly flames flickering in its eye sockets.
‘Success.’
Sefina breathed heavily, but the hand holding the wand was steady as a rock.
Fifth-rank magic [Ice Freeze] was enough to temporarily trap this bizarre creature.
‘Next, she just needed to immediately raise an alarm, attract the Church high-ranking officials and the Security Bureau, and publicly expose this frozen evidence…’
However, the next second—
Tap—tap—
Leisurely, unhurried footsteps came from the deep shadows of the corridor behind her, striking clearly against the silent stone floor.
Sefina’s spine instantly tensed, as if doused with ice water.
She gripped the wand and spun around sharply.
At the other end of the corridor, under the dim yellow glow of the magic wall lamp, a figure was slowly approaching.
He wore a white robe embroidered with a golden sun wheel pattern, with white hair and beard, and a kind face.
It was the current Pope of the Church.
But at that moment, that smile in Sefina’s eyes was even more chilling than the frozen monster.
Because Sefina reasoned that such a mindless monster could never have lurked here alone.
It needed a hiding place, a source of “food,” and to remain undetected…
There must be a handler behind the scenes, and there were likely more than one of these monsters.
And the person who could pull all this off inside the Church Court was…
All the clues and suspicion now pointed to the man before her.
At that moment, the Pope stopped about ten steps away from Sefina, his gaze sweeping over the frozen monster on the ground before returning to Sefina.
Sefina, however, was on high alert as if facing a great enemy.
Without any hesitation, she mobilized all her mana without reservation.
The tip of the Ice Wand instantly began to form a magic array, preparing to release an attack spell, her fierce killing intent locking firmly onto the seemingly harmless old man ahead.